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Full Name
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William Foulkes
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Date of Birth
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5th Jan 1932
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Place of Birth
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St Helens, Lancashire
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Position
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Central Defender
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Height
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6 ft
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United debut
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13/12/1952
vs Liverpool (A)
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.....
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Foulkes' United Record 1952-1970
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Appearances
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Goals
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League
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563 (3)
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7
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FA Cup
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61
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0
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League Cup
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3
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0
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Europe
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52
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2
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Total
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679 (3)
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9
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Foulkes' International Record
1952-1970
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1 Cap for
England - 0 Goals
1968 European
Cup
1967 1st Div
League Championship
1965 1st Div
League Championship
1963 F.A. Cup
1957 1st Div
League Championship
1956 1st Div
League Championship
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A huge, strong, centre-half, Bill Foulkes
was a Busby Babe, who survived Munich and played top flight
football for nearly twenty years. Foulkes joined Manchester
United as an amateur in March 1950, later turning
professional in August 1951. In his early days Foulkes
combined playing football with work at a coal mine, feeling
that he was not good enough to make the grade.
Only when called up to the England team was he convinced to
give up his job at the colliery. He made his debut for
United half way through the 1952-53 season as right
full-back, but later moved to his favoured position of
centre-half. Foulkes was United's wall of steel, who might
well have been hewn out of solid rock from the coal-fields
he worked in. He enjoyed the physical side of football,
being powerful in the air and competent on the floor.
As one of the survivors of the Munich air crash, Foulkes
took over as captain of a depleted United team. He led them
miraculously to the FA Cup Final at Wembley in 1958 where
sadly United lost out to Bolton 2-0. In a distinguished
career at Old Trafford, Foulkes won four League Championship
medals in 1956, 1957, 1965 and 1967.
The big defender also played three FA Cup Finals in 1957,
1958 and 1963, collecting a winners' medal after the 3-1
over Leicester in 1963. To crown his career he won a
European Cup winners' medal in 1968 in that famous Benifca
victory. In addition to this he was capped by England at
under-23 levels, but his solitary full England cap was poor
reward for a player of his obvious calibre. |
As a player he was an extremely dedicated
fitness fanatic who made the best use out of his strong
muscular build. In his earlier days it was claimed that he
could have made a name for himself in rugby league had he
not chosen to take up football. Upon winning the European
Cup in 1968, Foulkes wanted to retire as he felt he had
achieve all he could, however Sir Matt Busby persuaded him
to stay on for another 2 years. After retiring from playing
in 1970, Foulkes was appointed youth team coach at
Manchester United. Following this he took up various
coaching appointments abroad, including spells in the USA,
Norway and Japan, before returning back to England in 1992.
However, although he was a defender, Foulkes is often
remembered for the goals he scored. None more so than the
1968 European Cup semi-final when he scored against Real
Madrid in the Bernabeau, which put United into the Final.
When he finally left Old Trafford in 1970 he had made a
total of 679 first team appearances, plus 3 as substitute.
In seasons 1957-58, 1959-60, 1963-64 and 1964-65 he started
in every single game the club played that year. Only Bobby
Charlton has made more senior appearances for Manchester
United and it is extremely unlikely Bill Foulkes total will
be bettered either. |
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All pictures in the
profiles can be enlarged by clicking on the smaller version.
Stats do not include friendlies, Charity Shield or World Club tournaments.
Number in brackets ( ) represents appearances as substitute in addition to
starting appearances.
This information is kindly taken from
McCleery's
Manchester United Zone
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